Human herpesvirus 6 infection impairs Toll-like receptor signaling.

Abstract

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) has a tropism for immunocompetent cells, including T lymphocytes, monocytes/macrophages, and dendritic cells (DCs) suggesting that HHV-6 infection affects the immunosurveillance system. Toll-like receptor (TLR) system plays an important role in innate immunity against various pathogens. In the present study, we investigated the effect of HHV-6 infection on the expression and intracellular signaling of TLRs in DCs. Although expression levels of TLRs were not decreased or slightly elevated following HHV-6 infection, the amounts of cytokines produced following stimulation with ligands for TLRs appeared to be dramatically decreased in HHV-6-infected DCs as compared to mock-infected DCs. Similarly, phosphorylation levels of TAK-1, IkappaB kinase, and IkappaB-alpha following stimulation of HHV-6-infected DCs with lipopolysaccharide, which is the ligand for TLR4, appeared to be decreased. These data show that HHV-6 impairs intracellular signaling through TLRs indicating the novel mechanism of HHV-6-mediated immunomodulation.

• Authors: Yuichi Murakami, Kazushi Tanimoto, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Jun An, Koichiro Suemori, Toshiki Ochi, Hitoshi Hasegawa, Masaki Yasukawa
• Journal: Virology journal (Virol J) Vol. 7 Pg. 91 (May 10 2010) ISSN: 1743-422X [Electronic] England
• PMID: 20459723 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Cytokines
• Toll-Like Receptors

Topics

• Adult
• Cells, Cultured
• Cytokines (metabolism)
• Dendritic Cells (virology)
• Gene Expression Profiling
• Herpesvirus 6, Human (immunology, pathogenicity)
• Humans
• Signal Transduction
• Toll-Like Receptors (immunology)